====================================================================== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. ======================================================================
Please Post and Distribute: LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS: 5.5.10 In this issue: 1. Remembering Kent & Jackson 2. The Spirit Lives 3. A Mural 40 Years Later 4. Street Artists vs. Teabag Taliban 5. Rare & Exciting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1. Remembering Kent & Jackson > > REMEMBERING KENT AND JACKSON > By Mike Alewitz > > (Please leave comments about Kent & Jackson at: > http://kentmassacre.wordpress.com) > > * * * * * > > A photo records my friend Jerry Persky and I looking on as a student jumps in > a pool of blood. Jerry had just told me that our friend Sandy Scheuer had > been shot. The numb disbelief is written on our faces. 67 shots in 13 > seconds left four students dead and nine wounded, one paralyzed from the > waist down. > > There are events in history that we must never forget, and one such moment > was on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio. The few grim seconds of > gunfire are burned indelibly on those of who witnessed the murder. In the > end, the events would impact on world politics. > > On April 30, 1970, a nervous, sweating Pres. Richard Nixon went on television > to announce the invasion of Cambodia - a major escalation of the war in > Southeast Asia. In response, demonstrations erupted on college campuses > across the country - and Kent State was no exception. A series of protests > and rallies took place, during which time the ROTC building was torched. > > The burning of the dilapidated wooden structure occurred under mysterious > circumstances. Seizing on this incident, Gov. James Rhodes ordered the Ohio > National Guard onto the campus, branding the protesters as “worse than the > brown shirts” > > “When the technique of the Weathermen and the SDS and the Student > Mobilization Committee, when this is employed and firebombing and violence, > and let me also say that death is not going to stand in their way to answer > their purpose...we will use what ever force necessary to drive them out of > Kent!" > > He went on to say, “we’re up against the strongest, well-trained, militant > revolutionary group ever assembled in America...No one is safe in Portage > County. It’s just that simple. No one is safe.” Rhodes was echoing Nixon, > who called the student's "bums.” These inflammatory remarks provided a > political framework for the subsequent events. > > On May 4, in protest of the escalation of the war and the military occupation > of our campus, we peacefully gathered on the commons, the traditional free > speech assembly area. The Guard ordered us to disperse, and when we refused > to surrender our right to demonstrate, they began a massive barrage of > teargas. The demonstration was broken up, practically before it began. > > We ran over Blanket Hill, slowly but doggedly pursued by a line of soldiers > with fixed bayonets. The guardsmen marched to a practice field where they > knelt and brandished their weapons, aiming at the scattered students. The > soldiers stood and began to retrace their route back to the commons. But at > the top of the hill they simultaneously wheeled about and fired. > > The victims were far from the troops and posed no threat. Allison Krause was > 330 feet away from the nearest Guardsman when she was fatally gunned down. > Sandy was 390 feet away, walking to class. She was shot through the neck and > killed. Another friend, Robbie Stamps, was almost 500 feet away when wounded. > Four students lay dead: Allison Krause, Bill Schroeder, Sandy Scheuer and > Jeffrey Miller. Nine others were wounded - Dean Kahler would be paralyzed > for life. > > * * * * * > > The bloodshed was not over. Ten days later, on May 14, a deadly salvo of over > 450 bullets into a women's dormitory at Jackson State University in > Mississippi left another two students dead. There is no accurate count on the > number of wounded. The reaction of the Jackson students says much about the > expectations of African Americans - students avoided going to a hospital, > fearing it might lead to arrest and prosecution on frame-up charges related > to the shootings. > > The murdered Jackson students were Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green. Gibbs > was the son of a sharecropper – he finished at the top of his high school > class and went on to Jackson State. He was a member of the Civil Rights > Council and was active in his church and basketball. He had recently married > his high school sweetheart and had an 11-month son. > > James Earl Green was a 17-year-old senior in high school passing through > Jackson State on his way home from his after school job. He was one of eight > children, son of a laborer. He hoped to attend the University of California. > Green was a good student and a star of his track team. He worked daily at the > Rag-a-Bag grocery store giving his wages to his mother at the end of each > week. Such were the enemies of Nixon and his Democratic and Republican Party > cohorts. > > The isolated and increasingly paranoid Nixon had greatly misjudged the mood > of the country. Instead of curbing the protests, he provoked a national > strike by millions of students. Rejecting business as usual, students began > to occupy the universities embarking down the same path of their French > counterparts during May-June of 1968. I spoke at a number of campus rallies > during this time, and witnessed firsthand this remarkable democratic process > - thousands of students in mass meetings - learning, discussing and deciding > how they would fight to end the war. > > The growing movement had a profound effect on working people and within the > army itself – two forces that were critical in bringing the war to an end. > An anti-war movement that challenged the government during an actual shooting > war was already unprecedented, now the movement began to reach deep into the > military as well. The day when unquestioning soldiers could be marched down > the street with brass bands and ticker tape parades was over. > > * * * * * > > This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the massacre at Kent State. A > Truth Tribunal has been organized by family members of the slain students and > their supporters - still determined to uncover the truth about what happened > on May 4. It's been four decades, yet the truth lies buried in government > lies and misinformation. We have yet to know who gave the orders and from > how high up the chain of command they originated. > > Hopefully, this project will help. It would be good to know exactly who was > responsible for the crimes of that day. But the larger truth cannot be > hidden, because it exists in the consciousness of an entire generation. Kent > was our Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, our Tlatelolco Massacre of 1968 – if > not in casualties suffered, in the effect on the consciousness of the > country. We know that Richard Nixon, and the war machine he represented, were > responsible for the bloodshed. > > The Truth Tribunal has prompted me to jot down a few things I’ve been meaning > to record for the last few decades. While I hope to be around for the 50th > anniversary, you never know. I don't really have anything special to add to > accounts of the actual shooting - I was down by the practice field and > witnessed the events, but had no special insights about those particular few > moments. > > Several days after the shootings, on May 9, I spoke before 150,000 people in > Washington DC at a national demonstration held to protest the massacre and > escalation of the war. And over the years I've given hundreds of slideshows > to classes and meetings, spoken at rallies and generally tried to tell the > story of the events. We were fortunate to have photographic documentation of > the murders - it has been difficult for the authorities to deny the evidence > before our eyes. > > Yet, over time, my presentations became less frequent. After awhile, students > didn’t remember the shootings – it happened before they were born. This > year, only one or two of my students had heard of Kent – no one recognized > the iconic photo of the anguished Mary Vecchio, kneeling over the body of > Jeffry Miller. But for my generation it remains a seminal moment – and we > have a responsibility to make sure that this history is kept alive. > > * * * * * > > I was 17 years old when I started school at Kent in 1968. There were a > variety of ideological streams on campus – left-liberal Democrats, > anarchists, the Communist Party, Maoists, Trotskyists, Youth International > Party (Yippee) and other political tendencies. There were also activist > groups like the graduate students, Black United Students and others. > > I went to a few meetings of SDS, and even went with them to the > counter-inauguration of Nixon. I would sit quietly through their meetings. > SDS believed in “participatory democracy.” They didn’t have a chairperson or > votes. It wasn’t for me. > > By chance, I bumped into a member of the Socialist Labor Party at a > demonstration. The SLP was the remnants of the once-vibrant party of Daniel > Deleon - the first real Marxist party in the US, dating back to the 1800s. > They still had some older members in nearby Akron and invited any young > radicals that they met to their chicken paprikash dinners. > > There was one younger guy – he was in his late twenties or early thirties, I > believe, (which I still considered ancient). He seemed to have a wealth of > knowledge about history and economics that the SDSers did not possess. I > bought some literature and began to read Marx. The SLP had a home study > course -- you would read pamphlets and follow an outline of study. I got the > kit and went to work -- I wanted to understand how the world worked. Looking > back, it all seems rather strange - sitting in my room reading pamphlets that > were written 100 years ago. I was troubled by the SLP, because they did not > participate in campus struggles. One of the attractive characteristics of SDS > was that they were action-oriented. > > Then I ran into a guy named Gary Meske. Gary lived like an old wobbly - he > was working in construction near Kent and helping the Kent Committee to End > the War in Vietnam. The KCEWV had a history of organizing on campus, but had > been eclipsed by SDS. Gary convinced me to attend meetings and take > responsibility for organizing things as the committee changed it’s name and > became part of the national organization, the Student Mobilization Committee > Against the War in Vietnam. > > Gary was a member of the Young Socialist Alliance and the Socialist Workers > Party. I had been reading Marx and looking for way to combine socialist ideas > and actions, and the YSA seemed to do that. The cult-like Socialist Workers > Party of today bears no resemblance to the organization of that time. The SWP > had its roots in the militant Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the > revolutionary opposition to Stalinism in the USSR. It’s members lead the > Minneapolis general strike of 1934, published Malcolm X and played a central > role in building the anti-war movement. > > Several days a week we set up tables on campus selling Marxist literature and > providing a focal point for discussion and debate. All the various tendencies > engaged in lively, but generally comradely debates. I learned revolutionary > politics sitting behind a literature table reading everything that was on it. > > Every week we would go to the Greyhound bus station to pick up new literature > to sell on campus. It would be very exciting when a new pamphlet arrived -- > something by Malcolm X or Che that had not been published before. Flyers were > run off on a mimeograph machine. You would use a stylus to cut through a wax > coating, place the stencil on an ink drum and hand crank flyers one at a > time. I wrote a socialist column for the Daily Kent Stater. I learned to type > articles on a manual typewriter and to this day I still don't like the feel > of the keyboard that I can't bang on. > > * * * * * > > The history of radicalism at Kent has been obscured over time, particularly > concerning SDS and the anti-war movement. As a national organization, > Students for a Democratic Society called the first demonstration against the > war in Vietnam in 1965. But after that, SDS largely withdrew from supporting > national actions sponsored by any of the major peace coalitions. As the group > evolved it made a decision to focus on what it called “anti-imperialism.” > > SDS varied from campus to campus. At Kent there were different tendencies > within the group. To their credit, many of the individuals in Kent SDS > participated in building the antiwar actions. > > The Student Mobilization Committee eventually grew to include hundreds of > thousands of members nationally. The Kent SMC functioned largely as an > alliance of groups and forces, coming together around actions, particularly > the national moratoriums. Unfortunately, the SMC has been largely written out > of the history of Kent. SMC involved thousands of KSU students in its > activities. Alison Krauss participated in SMC actions – she is pictured > holding up the SMC banner at the front of the national moratorium > demonstration. Another picture shows her collecting funds to help pay for the > demonstration expenses. Sandy Scheuer came to meetings, distributed flyers, > etc. Yet they are never identified as SMCers or SMC supporters. > > The anti-war movement at Kent was a broad coalition of groups and > individuals, of which SDS was one part. It was the actions of millions, not > a few radicals, that forced the US out of SE Asia – we must not let that fact > be wiped away with a government promoted rewriting of history. Tom Grace, one > of the wounded students, and a life-long labor activist, is publishing a > history of the anti-war movement at Kent that will help to keep the history > alive. > > When the national student strike exploded, it eclipsed SDS, SMC and every > other organization. It was a genuine and sustained mass action. Students > acted without waiting for permission from groups or authorities. They took > over university facilities and used them to build the anti-war movement far > and wide. > > * * * * * > > In the process of trying to bring a national strike coalition together, I > went to speak at the University of Texas in Austin. I stayed in Texas, where > I saw how the student movement was instrumental in helping to support the > anti-war movement in the army. I also saw how Raza Unida Party and the > Chicano Moratorium brought hundreds of thousands of workers into political > action. Together, the determination and courage of these two forces gave me > enormous confidence in the working class. > > I never went back to Kent, and have been unable to attend the memorials – > aside from the fact that I had no money, I felt then, and I still do now, > that the best way to honor our friends was to build the antiwar movement, so > I always give a slideshow somewhere else on May 4. This year, I will work > with Jerry Butler, a muralist who was at Jackson, to paint a 40’ > commemorative mural for Kent and Jackson. We will begin on May 4 and > complete it on May 14. The mural will be portable – available to use for > building the anti-war movement today. > > * * * * * > > Recently, some have questioned why there are no mass mobilizations against > the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some suggest that students are not > demonstrating because there is no draft – but that’s a misreading of history. > Students opposed the draft, because they opposed the war, not the other way > around. The same kind of anger and disappointment that led to the protests of > 1970 exist today. > > All during the course of the Vietnam War the government would periodically > announce that the antiwar movement was dead. But sleep is not death. The > largest antiwar demonstration in history was not in the 1970s, but in the > February leading up to the US invasion of Iraq. That deep-seated opposition > to the war has not gone away. It lies beneath the surface ready to boil over. > This time, it will not just be the students -- it will be an entire working > class whose anger has smoldered as the wealth of our society is consumed by > an insatiable military. > > The American people banked on Barack Obama ending the war. As their hopes > have diminished, in their place is the growing realization that we must act > collectively to achieve peace and justice. Today’s youth face enormous > challenges: economic hardship, unemployment, homelessness, etc. The > aspiration for a better world will once again lead them to collective action. > > We must not forget what happened at Kent and Jackson – not because we bear > moral witness, but because the actions we took led to fundamental changes in > our society. We forced an end to the war in Vietnam. We helped clear the > way for the women’s movement, the gay liberation struggle and so many other > transformational movements. > > The ruling class would like us to think that we are weak and helpless, that > we cannot change the world. That is a lie – we can and we will. That is the > great lesson of Kent: The solidarity of working people is more powerful than > the weapons of the ruling class. > > The working class is more anti-war than ever. It is more pissed off than > ever and that anger is going to explode in ways that we cannot even imagine. > The fight for peace will be renewed and it will be a living monument to the > martyrs of Kent and Jackson. > > (Please leave comments about Kent & Jackson at: > http://kentmassacre.wordpress.com) > > - - - - - - - - - - - > > Mike Alewitz was a founder and Chairman of the Kent Student Mobilization > Against the War in Vietnam. He was an eyewitness to the massacre and a > leader of the national student strike that followed. > > Alewitz is an internationally recognized muralist and an Associate Professor > of Art at Central CT State University. From May 4 – 14, he and Prof. Jerry > Butler, a public artist who was at Jackson, will paint a 40’ commemorative > mural on the campus of CCSU. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2. The Spirit Lives > > THE SPIRIT LIVES! > Mural to Commemorate the Massacre of Students at Kent and Jackson State > May 4 - 14 > > On May 4, 1970, the National Guard opened fire on a peaceful anti-war protest > at Kent State University in Ohio. The attack left four dead and nine > wounded. Students had gathered in response to President Richard Nixon’s > announcement that the US had invaded Cambodia – a major escalation of the war > in Southeast Asia. > > The massacre at Kent was followed two days later with the police barrage of > bullets into a dormitory at Jackson State in Mississippi that left two > students dead and an unknown number of others wounded. > > The shootings at Kent and Jackson, along with deep hatred of the war, sparked > a national student strike that was to become the largest political > demonstration in U.S. history. Tens of thousands of students occupied their > universities and used the facilities to reach out with their anti-war > message. The strike played a crucial role in in the movement that eventually > forced an end to the war. > > ---------------------------------------- > > From May 4 - 14, CCSU Profs Mike Alewitz & Jerry Butler will paint a 40’ > commemorative mural on the mall of Central CT State University > We invite you to JOIN US on site for painting, music, theater and activism. > > ---------------------------------------- > > JERRY BUTLER is a renowned art educator, public artist and muralist. > He was a participant in the events at Jackson State. > > MIKE ALEWITZ was a student leader at Kent State and an eyewitness to the > murders. > He is an agitprop muralist working in the US and internationally. > > ---------------------------------------- > > WE WILL NEVER FORGET! > BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! > > ---------------------------------------- > > Sponsored by the Department of Art, Peace Studies, Art Club & CCSU Student > Affairs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3. A Mural 40 Years Later > > Wednesday, May 5, 2010 10:14 PM EDT > By Jennifer Abel > Staff Writer > > NEW BRITAIN — Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre, > where members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of unarmed > students — some protesting the Vietnam War, others merely walking from one > class to another — and killed four. > > At the time, Mike Alewitz was a Kent State student. Today he’s an art > professor at Central Connecticut State University. > > So Tuesday night, to mark the anniversary of Kent State, Alewitz hosted an > outdoor slideshow and discussion of the Kent State killings, followed by the > kickoff of a 10-day mural project. > > But Alewitz isn’t the only CCSU art professor with a personal connection to > the deadly anti-war protests of 1970 — Jerry Butler is too. He was a student > at Jackson State College in Mississippi, whose students held an anti-war > protest 10 days after the Kent State Massacre. Police fired at the > protestors, killing two and injuring a dozen more. > The idea behind the mural project is that Alewitz and Butler would > collaborate on a mural highlighting the events of 1970, with the mural > scheduled for completion May 14, the anniversary of the killings at Jackson > State. > > The guardsmen at Kent State said they acted in self-defense, though the four > dead were, on average, almost 350 feet away from the firing guardsmen. One > dead student, William Schroeder, had been shot in the back. Another, Sandra > Scheuer, wasn’t even participating in any demonstrations, but going to class > when a guardsman’s bullet got her in the throat. > > As dusk deepened into night Tuesday, Alewitz and some students set up a > portable white screen on a patio outside the Student Center. Most of those > who attended were students, but there were a few older faces sprinkled > throughout the crowd. One belonged to Farmington resident (and Kent State > alumna) Priscilla Peale. > > “I saw [the announcement about the discussion] in the paper, and thought I’d > come,” she said. The day of the original protest, “I was just opposite the > main group, with some people, when they shot some tear gas over our way, so I > went back to class.” She was not present when the shooting started. > > At the show’s 8:30 p.m. start time, the words “The Kent State Massacre” > appeared onscreen in blood-red letters against a black background. > > The screen showed black-and-white photos recognizable from history books: > helicopters landing in a rice paddy, naked, orphaned children running down a > Vietnamese road. > > Historians have speculated that one reason Vietnam was so unpopular with the > American public is that it was the first war whose horrors Americans could > see every night, when they watched the TV news. Alewitz alluded to this when > he said, “They had images of war on TV; they’ve since learned not to do that, > so you don’t see [the Iraq or Afghanistan] war on television.” > > The photos switched from Vietnam to Kent State, which Alewitz said was > similar to CCSU — “a working-class university. Its students were the children > of auto workers, steel workers.” > > A photo of two smiling young people with 1960s haircuts appears. “This is > Allison Krause on the right,” Alewitz said. Krause was a 19-year-old honor > student when she became one of the four Kent State fatalities. > > Alewitz told tales of Kent State that don’t often appear in the well-known > narratives. Long before the protests, some students told the campus newspaper > they intended to napalm a dog. (They never did.) Alewitz said many pro-war > “frat boys” came out to protest that threat. April 30, 1970, President > Richard Nixon — elected in part on his promise to end the war — announced > instead that the U.S. would expand the war by invading Cambodia. In response, > demonstrations broke out all over the country. Alewitz recalled a May rally > where Kent State students symbolically buried a copy of the Constitution > (which says only Congress, not the president, has the authority to start a > war). > > “The ROTC building was burned down, and the [Ohio] National Guard was called > out,” said Alewitz. “At Kent, the ROTC building was a dilapidated wooden > structure, slated for demolition.” > > Alewitz said the National Guard occupied the campus on Sunday, May 3. The > next day, many students who had gone home for the weekend returned to find > the campus in a state of quasi-martial law. The May 4 protest was a > combination protest against the war and the National Guard presence. > > He showed a photo of a smiling hippie posing with two smiling guardsmen. > “There was a lot of fraternization with the Guards.” Alewitz dismissed the > myth of anti-war protestors abusing or spitting upon military personnel. “We > were trying to win the Guard over to the anti-war movement. Most were in the > Guard to get [themselves] out of Vietnam.” > > He showed a photo of a smiling guardsman with a flower in his gun barrel. > Alewitz said Krause had put the flower there. > > There was a large space on the Kent State campus which Alewitz said was used > for spontaneous demonstrations. A crowd gathered there Monday, May 4, and > when someone over a PA system ordered the crowd to disperse, some students > jeered they had the right to protest. > > A photo of guards in gas masks appears. They began to advance upon the > demonstrators. > > “And we began to run away, which is what you do when people with guns come > after you,” Alewitz said. The guards fired tear gas. The students kept > running away, and the guards followed them. > > A wide-angle photo of the campus appears. Alewitz used a laser pointer to > call attention to it. “The guards were back here. This is where the students > were shot.” The distance was too great for unarmed students to possibly have > been any threat to the guards. > > More photos appear. A man on the ground with blood pouring out of his head > and puddling several feet away. “This is Jeffrey Miller as he lay dying.” > Another photo showed Dean Kahler, shot in the back and paralyzed from the > waist down. > > Eventually the photos switched to Jackson State — two young black women > standing at a window surrounded by bullet holes > > “Four-hundred-fifty shots were fired into a women’s dormitory,” Alewitz said. > > A photo of James Earl Green, killed at 17 appears followed by a photo of > Phillip Gibbs, the sharecropper’s son, killed not long after he’d married his > high-school sweetheart. > > “The Jackson State killings aren’t as well known as [the Kent State > killings],” Alewitz said. “Probably because it was an African-American > school. … Their protest wasn’t just over Vietnam, it was part of the civil > rights movement.” > > Through May 14, Alewitz and Butler’s mural-in-progress can be seen outside > the Student Center, on the side facing Welte Hall. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4. Street Artists vs. Teabag Taliban > > Op-Ed by Mike Alewitz, New Britain Herald, April 29, 2010 > > Written in response to an article and lively online discussion following the > 3rd New Britain International Mural Slam at: > http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2010/04/25/news/doc4bd4e7c518572986570042.txt#blogcomments > > > > Of Public Art & Public Places > > About 35,000 years ago, some cave dwellers began to put their hands against > the wall and spit berry juice over it, leaving their imprint on stone. It > was an act that said, "I'm a human - this is me!" > > Our very first painting was spray-painted graffiti and we have been doing it > ever since. Throughout almost all of recorded history, the form of our > two-dimensional art has been mural painting. Using portable canvases began a > mere few hundred years ago. > > The recent online discussion in the Herald, following the 3rd New Britain > International Mural Slam, has revealed some fundamental misconceptions about > graffiti, murals, public art in general and the Slam in particular. > > The Slam brings together artists from varied backgrounds for a one-day > festival on top of the Welte Garage at Central CT State University. > Participants get a 4' x 12' wall and have 8 hours to complete their project. > Ostensibly it's a competition, but the prizes are silly, everyone is > supportive and tries to help and learn from each other. There is music > playing and people stroll around looking at the artists at work. > > So why would such a festive event be a lightening rod for the anger of some > New Britain residents? The rage is palpable -- one writer threatened to cut > off the hands of graffiti artists. Apparently the Teabag-Taliban has come to > New Britain. > > To be sure, I believe the Slam opponents represent a tiny minority of the > community. Most people are more open-minded and tolerant - willing to check > things out for themselves, even if they do not understand the art. The same > people who decry spray can art would have been, in another time, the people > who screamed about how rock 'n roll was the devil's music. > > The anger is misdirected. At a time when hundreds of billions of dollars are > given to bankers, while families are forced from their homes; while the > wealth of the country is squandered on foreign wars of occupation and schools > go begging for resources; as unemployment rises and wages fall – are public > artists the enemy? No - it’s just easier to pick on the poor or marginalized > than to take on powerful economic interests. > > But a handful of anti-art yahoos are not really the problem – they are just > the collateral damage of government, cultural and educational institutions > that lack vision. (Even from a strictly economic standpoint – there are > towns that have created multi-million dollar cultural tourism industries > around having a fraction of the over 150 murals that CCSU students have > painted. New Britain could do the same - the work that we have produced on > campus is unmatched in scope and quality with any university in the country.) > > Let me tell you who the graffiti artists and muralists are: They are > university students, public school teachers, college graduates and > high-school dropouts. They are male and female. They are African-American, > Latino, and Anglo - some of our best graffiti artists are Polish kids. > > Many of the participants in the Mural Slam are students at Central > Connecticut State University. After working 30 or 40 or 50 hours a week while > holding down a full credit load, they come to campus at all times of day and > night to paint murals and create artwork that brightens our lives. They are > not paid for this and they receive no recognition -- instead they are > sometimes disrespected or even branded as criminals – not by their peers, but > by those that are governed by fear. > > Street artists give a gift from the heart and demand nothing in return. > Isn't this what we want our society to be like - don't we want a town where > people give something to the community instead of thinking only of > themselves? Do we really want to follow the example of the bankers and hedge > fund operators whose bench line of success is how much money they can steal > from unsuspecting working people? > > I'm very proud to say that our muralists and street artists are not like > that. Our students will leave this University, after enormous effort, with > tens of thousands of dollars in debts and few job prospects. Many of their > parents (with the best of intentions) try to convince them to do something > that is more “practical.” And yet, they continue to strive, against all sorts > of odds, to be artists. > > Having a way to express yourself is part of what makes us human. We are > social beings -- we need to dance, sing, play together and make art. When you > attempt to deny that very basic impulse, you destroy people. That is why it's > so criminal to get rid of music, arts and athletic programs from our schools. > > Our young people deserve better than privatized and militarized education. > They deserve to have choices other than going into the army or selling > insurance. They deserve to have the opportunity to follow their art or > science or wherever their curiosity takes them. They deserve our respect and > support. They deserve walls to paint on. > > There is nothing on earth that can stop people from making art. > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Mike Alewitz is an Associate Professor of Art at CCSU. He is an award-winning > muralist working in the US and internationally, and directs the CCSU Mural > Program. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5. Rare & Exciting > THE VANCOUVER ISLAND MAYWORKS PROJECT > > MAYWORKS! a Festival of Labour & the Arts > > > > MURAL WORKSHOP WITH MIKE ALEWITZ > MAY 29 & 30th > Vancouver, BC > > Internationally known artist, political activist and muralist Mike Alewitz > will conduct a two-day artists' workshop. > Participants will create a banner honoring our local history. > > This is a rare, exciting opportunity; PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. > > Call 250-334-3624 or 250-757-2023 for information and to register. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “In a society that has abolished every kind of adventure the only adventure that remains is to abolish the society.” _____________________________________________ >> >> >> MIKE ALEWITZ >> Associate Professor >> Artistic Director, Labor Art & Mural Project >> ____________________________________ >> >> Art Department/ Central CT State University >> 1615 Stanley Street/ New Britain, CT 06050 >> ___________________________________ >> --- You are currently subscribed to agitprop as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-769961-112053.b110d15eb0fee636ec6dfa25c2caf...@listserv.ccsu.edu ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
